China is one of the countries that are experiencing severe water shortages. This problem is aggravated by the continuously increasing pollution of scarce water resources.


The water of the river Jiang became red after two workshops for the production of dyes leaked a large number of red dye into the drainage pipes. Luoyang city, Henan province. the year 2011. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

June 5 was the 41st world environment day. Along with other kinds of pollution, water pollution is one of the most acute problems in the world. Besides, as said Director General of the world health organization (who) Gro Harlem of Bruntland, to have clean drinking water and adequate sanitation is the most fundamental human right".

According to who, in China from diseases associated with poor drinking water quality die 95,6 thousand people. More than 300 million people in rural areas do not have access to safe drinking water, more than 63 million use water with a high content of fluorine, 2 million people consume water with high content of arsenic, 190 million people use water, in which the content of harmful substances exceeds the norm.

Appropriate national standards of water in China use only 11% of the population.

According to information of public official Chinese sources, currently China's seven major water systems (Yangtze, yellow river, pearl river, Songhua Huaihe, Haihe and Liaohe) reached extent serious pollution.

The main sources of pollution are located close to these rivers numerous plants for production of paper, chemical products, medicines and steel and other businesses in emissions in large quantities contain ammonia, nitrogen, permanganates, volatile phenols, heavy metals, mercury, manganese, lead, arsenic and others.

According to the results of ongoing for seven years of measurements in 118 Chinese cities, about 64% of groundwater cities has reached a degree of severe pollution, 33% of the extent of light pollution, clean and safe only 3% of the groundwater.

Folk ecologist Ho Disani, who for many years explores the state of the ecology of the river basin Huaihe, said that the waters of the river are heavily polluted with chemical components and heavy metals. As a result, according to him, in the vicinity of the river not only appeared many so-called cancer villages, but continuously growing number of women and men suffering from infertility, and the number of children with congenital malformations.

In some areas, as the result of excavations without the proper disposal of waste, polluted even underground water located at great depth, cleaning which, according to environmentalists, will need about a thousand years.

Don Lances, ecologist from the University of Hawaii (USA), and recently in his blog he wrote that in 23 water sources six major water systems in China were found estrogens (steroids), the largest number of which is contained in the waters of the Yangtze. These substances cannot be removed by boiling the water, this can only be done by a special process.

According to the ecologist from the city of Nanjing, now in China there are no government standards governing the content in the water of these substances, and no adequate equipment and technologies for comprehensive monitoring of the situation in this area.

As reported by the Hong Kong site "Phoenix", in China there 2221 kind of harmful substances contained in surface and underground waters. In General, these are organic chemical compounds, carbides and metals. Of them in drinking water may contain 765 hazardous to health substances.

As told yuan Icin, engineer one of the largest water supply stations in the South-West of China, currently in the country, water is made in the traditional way using liquid chlorine, when added to water, especially in large quantities, forms a substance that stimulates cancer.

Some stations, according to him, for disinfection of water use ozone. When this option is formed in the water very toxic substances bromates, which also stimulate the development of cancer diseases.

Yuan said that the regulations on the amount of added ozone are not observed, all this is done "by eye", so often you can see that the kind of water is clear and clean, but it contains many harmful for the organism chemical substances, without color and odor.

Over the continued deterioration of water quality in the country yuan said that all because of corruption that exists in a suitable her environment created by the regime of the ruling party.

"Tap water in many areas does not meet the requirements. But who knows about it? Simple people will not be able to find that it requires special equipment. Almost all water treatment plant, like ours, are working closely with regulatory authorities and periodically send them "red envelopes" (the presents, approx. as amended). When we come to the test, our leaders already know about it and try to improve water quality. When the inspectors leave, everything is back to normal," says yuan.

He also told, that at them in the manual there is such a concept: the most important thing, that there was massive outbursts of popular discontent, nothing else matters.

"They say that if a person ill with cancer or another serious illness, he could not know, that he fell sick because of poor quality water. Because now the country has many problems with the quality of food products, vegetables, oil and so forth, maybe he got sick from their use", - says an employee of the water station.